This annual event is one of the reasons SCI is truly FIRST FOR HUNTERS.
We are a force to be reckoned with, we are sportsmen, conservationist, and environmentalist, WE ARE HUNTERS. I have lobbied for many years to support the Farm Bill, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act and many others over the years. SCI has a great reputation of providing sound scientific studies to back their position, and providing facts rather that lip service and emotions, giving us the respect and attention that our issues deserve.
I was unable to attend our lobby week this year, but am pleased to be able to give you this report from Patrick O’Malley.
Rep Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is joined by SCI’s Cindy Marlenee on Capitol Hill
The word was out on Capitol Hill that SCI had come to town, and it was perhaps no coincidence that congressional negotiators finally get serious about finalizing the Farm Bill. Congressional speakers at the breakfast briefing for SCI’s 2008 Lobby Day gave the audience a firsthand, real-time look into the final steps that would send the farm bill to the president’s desk.
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Florida) addressed the SCI leadership duly assembled, after first belatedly accepting his Federal Legislator of the Year Award. The young firebrand from central Florida noted the early hour and joked that the crowd looked “awfully sleepy for a bunch of hunters.” West coasters catching up on jet lag flocked to the coffee urns while Putnam offered his observations.
Putnam offered a homeland security take on the farm bill. He noted that only 1.5 percent of the American population is involved in food production, but that America’s food security and independence stands in stark contrast to our reliance on imported oil – precisely because of the farm bill.
He lamented the fact that the farm bill had become a vehicle for funding unrelated programs such as food stamps, but also noted the political realities of needing to secure support from Congressmen representing urban areas in order to pass the bill. He urged the SCI members who would be meeting with their Congressman that day to urge their support for the final farm bill compromise, given that it contained substantial funding for critical conservation programs. He rounded out his comments with enthusiastic support for SCI’s annual exercise in legislative activism, noting that our opposition is well represented on Capitol Hill. “Elections matter,” he said, “we are trying to kill bills on the House floor that would never have been conceivable eighteen months ago” under Republican leadership. He concluded with a tribute to our hundreds of years of peaceful domestic governance, saying: “We fight these things out on the House floor because we don’t fight them out on the street.”
Next up was Congressman Bob Latta (R-Ohio). Latta is serving his first term, having first served as an Ohio state legislator, and he recounted numerous issues from his service in the state capital – Sunday hunting prime among them. In his introduction, SCI President Elect Merle Shepard noted that Latta was a fellow bowhunter, and Latta spoke to the challenges hunters face in recruiting and retaining newcomers to our ranks. “The land I’ve hunted for years for free is now under an expensive lease, so I personally feel the importance of ensuring access to productive public lands,” Latta observed. Finally, he echoed Putnam’s comments about the importance of SCI’s Lobby Day, saying: “These are just a few of the reasons to let the politicians know you’re out there – and put the fear of God in them.”
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) addresses SCI members during their visit to Capitol Hill as part of the May Board Meeting activities in Washington, D.C.SCI President Dennis Anderson introduced the next speaker, Congressman Gary Miller (R-California) as his own Congressman from Southern California, representing the district where Anderson lives and runs his business. Miller demonstrated his bona fides quickly, noting that his brother-in-law and father-in-law were both gun dealers. Miller himself came to the Congress after a successful career as a developer, and shared with the audience his own frustrations with the rigidity of the Endangered Species Act. Miller also spoke at length about America’s energy crisis, noting that our nation stands alone among industrialized countries as one that largely does not utilize its own energy resources. “Even when we’re paying outrageous prices for gas, the Congress is ignoring a resource – ANWR – that could produce a million barrels of oil per day.”
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) addresses SCI members during their visit to Capitol Hill as part of the May Board Meeting activities in Washington, D.C.
The SCI leaders reviewed the contents of their briefing packets, covering the issues they would be supporting and opposing in their visits. The audience was then briefed on the day’s events, including a press conference to announce the farm bill compromise.
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) addresses SCI members
The timing of Lobby Day was perfect, as SCI members were able to urge their Representatives and Senators to support the farm bill compromise legislation – a key request, given that many Members objected to the bill’s monstrous cost and failure to reform commodity subsidies. And Congress heard the message that SCI delivered that day, passing the farm bill by the overwhelming votes of 318-106 in the House, and 81-15 in the Senate.
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